There’s an on-going debate on whether communities welcome solar farm development or whether it negatively impacts real estate values. Local opposition to solar development is growing. This is evidenced by the increasing numbers of local ordinances that place restrictions on development. However, even here, controversy exists because it is unclear whether it is the communities at large that are leading the opposition, or special interests fomenting the backlash by leveraging a few local naysayers.
Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory has been researching the issue. In general, they have not found that communities view solar development as negative. But its most recent national survey done in conjunction with the University of Michigan and Michigan State did identify issues.
Here are some of the key findings:
- By a 3-to-1 margin people living within three miles of a large solar farm have positive attitudes.
- When large means 100 megawatts attitudes change. By a 12-to-1 margin attitudes are negative. The key here is how “large” is defined.
- Fewer than 20% of those surveyed knew about the solar project before construction began. Early community engagement is often sited as an issue. It appears that developers still have work to do in this area.
- The most trusted sources of information: people living near existing solar projects, community organizers and university staff.
- The least trusted sources: solar developers and government officials. No surprise there.
- People generally strongly support solar development on landfills and former industrial sites. Who wouldn’t?
- Support diminishes when talking about building solar on forested or farmland.
To my previous point related to the few instigating things against the many – based on its mediation work – MIT has found that vocal opposition from just 15 to 25% of the community results in halting development. The moral of that story: the squeaky wheel gets oiled. If the majority support renewables they need to become more active in that support.
#solarfarms #lawrenceberkleynationallaboratory #universityofmichigan #michiganstate #berkleylabs #solar
